Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

GANG OF FOUR

UK punk/new wave band formed in Leeds '77 by students Jon King, vocals; Hugo Burnham, drums; Andy Gill, guitar; Dave Allen, bass. Seminal debut EP Damaged Goods '78 on Fast Product label; title cut, "Armalite Rifle', "Love Like Anthrax' showed jerky, staccato, ultimately unsettling basic style. Signed to EMI '79; no compromises for the label that rejected Sex Pistols: single "At Home He's A Tourist' was banned from TV's Top Of The Pops because they would not change a reference to contraceptives. LP Entertainment '79 was well-received as thinking man's punk; Solid Gold '81 was prod. by NYC's Jimmy Douglass and reflected live work there; press claimed music had lost its edge, band claimed they had developed. David Allen quit during another USA tour '81; Busta Cherry Jones (ex-Sharks, Talking Heads) depped but Sara Lee (ex-Robert Fripp's League Of Gentlemen) was permanent replacement later. Songs Of The Free '82 prod. by Mike Howlett, merging the approaches of first two LPs, with female backing vocal on excellent near-hit "I Love A Man In A Uniform' (anti-military stance lost airplay as Falklands War loomed). Lee played only on some tracks of Hard (Jon Alstrop on others), her "session' status destabilised band, a situation exacerbated when Burnham was sacked, Steve Goulding (ex-Graham Parker) depping; the band was now effectively a gang of two. Final Live At The Palace '84 made for Polygram just before split. EP and first LP were examples of politically-motivated new-wave music at its best: lve, Gill and King were like a new wave Dr Feelgood. Allen formed moderately successful Shriekback; Burnham formed short-lived Illustrated Man.